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SPEAKERS

This year, we are thrilled to present an exceptional roster of speakers who are at the forefront of research, clinical practice, and educational innovation. Their contributions are pivotal in enhancing our understanding of human development from infancy through adulthood.

As we delve into the congress, each speaker will bring unique insights and cutting-edge findings, providing a comprehensive view of the current trends and future directions in developmental psychology. Prepare to be inspired by their expertise and to engage in meaningful discussions that will shape the future of our discipline.

Visionary Voices: Keynote Speakers

Scott Wright

USA

Scott Wright is the Anne Gaines and G. Thomas Miller Professor in the Departments of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Wright serves as the Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine at Hopkins Bayview. He received his M.D. from McGill University and he then completed his internal medicine residency training at the Montreal General Hospital. After pursuing fellowship training at Hopkins, he joined the faculty in 1997. 

Dr. Wright’s contributions to the field of medical education, through his own research and the mentoring of others, have been published in leading biomedical research journals. In recognition of his research accomplishments, Dr. Wright was elected to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation.  

Dr. Wright has been providing longitudinal primary care to patients in Baltimore since 1995 and he serves as a teaching attending on Hopkins’ inpatient medical service. For his teaching efforts, he was elected to membership in Alpha Omega Alpha. 

With colleagues, he established the Miller-Coulson Academy of Clinical Excellence at Hopkins. Dr. Wright serves as Director of the Academy which is committed to recognizing and promoting excellence in patient care. Dr. Wright is also the Co-Director of Hopkins’ Center for Humanizing Medicine; un this role, he is supported as the Mary & David Gallo Scholar through Hopkins’ Center for Innovative Medicine.

Dr. Wright serves on the Advisory Board of the Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center at Columbia University’s Medical Center, and he is on the Steering Committee of the Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaboration.

Waleska lopez

guatemala

Waleska is originally from Patzún, Chimaltenango and is proudly Kaqchikel Maya. She received her medical doctorate from the Autonomous University of Mexico and completed her clinical training at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala. Waleska has worked extensively in Mexico and Guatemala for Ministry of Health programs to extend coverage to rural areas. She is the Chief Medical Officer for Wuqu’ Kawoq | Maya Health Alliance.

Bernadette Daelmans

netherlands

Bernadette Daelmans is a public health physician and retired staff member of the World Health Organization.  Born in the Netherlands, she holds a degree in medicine from the University of Utrecht and a master’s degree in health systems management from the University of London.  She worked as a clinician in the Netherlands and Botswana.  After joining the WHO, she has been engaged with a range of issues related to maternal, newborn and child health including infant and young child feeding, integrated management of childhood illness, newborn health and early childhood development. She coordinated the development of the Nurturing Care Framework and was a member of the Lancet Global Health Commission on High Quality Health Systems in the SDG Era. Her focus is on strengthening health care systems to implement a comprehensive agenda for the health, development and wellbeing of children in the first two decades of life.

JOaquin Barnoya

guatemala

Dr. Joaquin Barnoya is the Guatemalan Minister of Health.

Gabriela Montenegro

guatemala

Gabriela Montenegro Bethancourt es doctora en Nutrición por la Universidad de Bonn y secretaria nacional de ciencia y tecnología en Guatemala. Su trayectoria científica se ha centrado en nutrición, salud pública y seguridad alimentaria, con un enfoque en poblaciones indígenas. Ha sido becaria de la Academia de Nutrición y Dietética y de la Alianza Maya para la Salud, donde lideró el Proyecto Saqmolo’. En 2023, fue galardonada con el premio OWSD-Elsevier para Mujeres Científicas del Mundo en Desarrollo. Desde la Senacyt, impulsa la reducción de inequidades en ciencia y tecnología, promoviendo el empoderamiento de las mujeres y abordando áreas clave como salud, medio ambiente, tecnología y acceso al conocimiento científico

Expert Perspectives: Featured Speakers

Vibha-Krisnmurthy

Vibha Krishnamurthy

INDIA

Dr. Vibha Krishnamurthy, trained in Developmental Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital, Boston, founded Ummeed Child Development Center (ummeed.org) in 2001, and is currently its Executive Director. She has more than 15 years of experience in India as a developmental pediatrician, and has led the team at Ummeed in its delivery of direct services, training, advocacy and research in the field of child development and disability. She serves on expert committees related to Early Childhood Development and Disability for the WHO and Government of India.

Dr Krishnamurthy has been part of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics since 2011. She is currently a co-investigator of a project for developing a tool for monitoring child development, funded by the National Institute of Health, USA.

Her interests are in the area of service delivery, capacity building and advocacy for children with disabilities in resource poor areas.

Innovators & Thought Leaders: Conference presenters

nandita de souza

india

Nandita de Souza is a developmental and behavioral pediatrician and self ADHDvocate, whose raison d’etre is children. She is the Director of the Sethu Centre for Child Development & Family Guidance in Goa, India. Fiercely committed to a strengths-based, neurodiversity affirming and family centred approach, Sethu build bridges of hope with all who care for children to create a more just and joyful world for every child.

koyeli sengupta

india

Koyeli Sengupta is a developmental pediatrician with a post-graduate degree in Pediatric medicine and Clinical Psychology. She is the Director of Autism Intervention Services at Ummeed, a premier not for profit organization in Mumbai, India,much respected for its work in the field of children with disabilities. Koyeli has been instrumental in growing Ummeed’s autism services into a range of clinical services that cater to a range of autism related difficulties across childhood and adolescence. Under her leadership, Ummeed’s autism intervention team has also conceptualized and implemented training programs to build capacity in the community to provide evidence-based, child-directed, family-centered and comprehensive autism care to children and families. In 2016, she led the development and implementation of AITP (Autism Intervention Training Program) – a one of its kind training program in India for professionals working with children with autism.
Mayada Elsabbagh

Mayada Elsabbagh

Canada

Dr. Mayada Elsabbagh is a Professor in Neurology and Neurosurgery at The Neuro of McGill University. She is also appointed as a Research Scientist at the McGill University Health Centre where her program is integrated with diagnosis and support services for autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions. Her research focuses on understanding the root causes of autism and tracing its developmental pathways across the lifespan. Her team uses developmental models to explain complex interactions of risk and protective factors leading to variable outcomes in autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions. Her scientific contributions include the discovery of very early brain function markers for autism before the onset of behavioural signs and the scale-up of community-based interventions. The approach combines innovative research with the mission of accelerating the pace of discovery and its translation into community impact. To achieve this, the team relies on converging methods that span techniques for the study of brain development (EEG, eye-tracking), behavioural and clinical assessment tools, and novel qualitative methods to capture first-person perspectives of children and youth. Dr. Elsabbagh has supported the successful launch of several collaborative research and translational networks in Canada and Europe, including the Transforming Autism Care Consortium (TACC), a Quebec research network supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec and several community partners. Dr. Elsabbagh is a program director of the Canadian Neurodevelopment Research Training (CanNRT) platform. She is also active in global efforts to improve evidence-based practice in the community and capacity building in low -and middle-income countries. These efforts include CST-Canada, a clinical trials platform for the WHO Caregiver Skills Training (CST) Program, which integrates research, training, and international exchange, expanding access to evidence-informed intervention in the community.

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Jeffrey Goldhagen

usa

Jeffrey Goldhagen, MD, MPH is a Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Community and Societal Pediatrics at the University of Florida-Jacksonville and President of the International Society for Social Pediatrics and Child Health (ISSOP). He has extensive experience in domestic and international maternal and child health; urban health; medical education; the core functions of public health; health care administration; hospice and palliative medicine; and in child rights and advocacy. He has provided leadership nationally in the development of comprehensive public health systems and systems of care for children’s medical and behavioral health. Dr. Goldhagen’s international experience includes extensive work on four continents. As the President of ISSOP, he is currently working with a global consortium of professionals and organizations to advance the health and well-being of children—including addressing issues of violence against children, migration, climate change, among other current matters addressing child rights violations.

roopa srinivasan

india

Dr. Roopa Srinivasan, has over 17 years of experience as a practicing Developmental Paediatrician. She heads the Clinical Services at Ummeed Child Development Centre, a leading Not for Profit Organization that works in the space of child development and disabilities in India. She is the Coordinator of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics Accredited Fellowship Program in Developmental and Behavioural Paediatrics at Ummeed. She was part of the international research team that was involved in the standardization and validation of the Guide for Monitoring Child Development in four Low- and Middle-Income Countries. She is currently part of an NIH funded international project on implementation of the GMCD in rural India and Guatemala. Her current work focusses on implementation of Family Centred Service Delivery Models and Participation Focussed Intervention Approaches in low resource settings.

karyn choy

guatemala

Karyn is a research nurse in early childhood development in Maya Health Alliance in Guatemala and has been collaborating with Maya Health Alliance for 10 years in different programs. She has more than 16 years of experience working in different programs for NGO’s promoting the communities’ development in rural areas of Guatemala. During these years, she has actively promoted health, nutrition and the development of communities, the women empowerment, access to quality health services, the human rights. She does volunteer work and activism promoting equality, Women and indigenous rights through different movements and organizations. She has a bachelor’s degree in nursing school at Panamericana University, in Guatemala and an Associate degree in Business entrepreneurship at Rockland Community College NY

sara hidalgo

guatemala

Sara Hernández is a Guatemalan educational psychologist, with a master’s degree in Child and Adolescent Development Management. She is now a Fellow in child development and Research Assistant in the Maya Health Alliance/Wuqu’ Kawoq, a non-profit Guatemalan organization dedicated to mayan health, and currently working in a research study about the effectiveness of the Guide for Monitoring Child Development in Guatemala. She was a co-investigator in a research study about the neurodevelopmental effects of Zika Virus in children living in rural areas of Guatemala. After that, her work has focused on child development research, child assessment and children’s rights.

Eva Tuiz

GUATEMALA

Nurse, research manager in a child development program, with over five years of experience leading field programs and work teams. Her work focuses on the planning, coordination, and execution of field studies aimed at improving children’s quality of life, ensuring that each research project is carried out with determination, efficiency, and a high-quality care approach that responds to the real needs of the community.

As an Indigenous person and a Kaqchikel speaker, she understands the importance of culturally relevant research, integrating scientific knowledge while respecting community traditions. Her approach promotes respect, inclusion, and the improvement of living conditions for children.

Her commitment to research excellence and team management has enabled the successful implementation of child development projects, ensuring that findings significantly contribute to the formulation of programs and policies focused on child development. Her goal is to continue contributing to the advancement of knowledge in the field, optimizing processes, and ensuring that each study has a positive impact on the lives of those who need it most.

revan mustafa

turkey

Dr. Revan Mustafa is a developmental pediatrician who has devoted his professional career to implementation and dissemination of healthcare services related to supporting early childhood development. He is an international Guide for Monitoring Child Development (GMCD) trainer, and has supported Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan in training national GMCD trainers. He is committed to supporting regional healthcare professionals in building their skills and competencies necessary for addressing developmental difficulties. Dr. Mustafa is one of WHO and UNICEF consultants in ECD in Europe and Central Asia region, and an executive board member of International Developmental Pediatrics Association (IDPA).

Ana Vides Porras

guatemala

Ana Vides Porras

Dr. Ana Vides Porras holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology with a specialization in Cultural and Medical Anthropology from the University of Wyoming. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and completed a specialization in Cognitive-Integrative Therapy at Fundación Aiglé, Argentina.

She currently coordinates the Global Citizenship course at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and serves as an associate researcher in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. Her research focuses on therapeutic relationships in intercultural contexts, access to healthcare services for vulnerable populations, and intercultural health. She has published several articles in international scientific journals and works as a consultant on research, mental health, and prevention issues.

As a professional, she combines university teaching with clinical practice as a cognitive-integrative therapist. Her work is based on an interdisciplinary approach that integrates anthropology, psychology, and education.

Ilgi Ertem

TURKEY

Prof. Dr. Ilgi Ertem is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, the Founding President of the International Developmental Pediatrics Association (IDPA) and Professor Emeritus, Ankara University, Turkey. Her work has focused on facilitating the inclusion of the teachings and practices of developmental-behavioral pediatrics within health and other systems in Turkey and around the world. She has longstanding international experience in collaborating with colleagues in various countries including Argentina, Azerbaijan, China, Croatia, Guatemala, India, Italy, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Serbia, South Africa, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and the United States. She is an advisor to the WHO and UNICEF on child development and disability. Dr. Ertem was a Zero to Three Fellow, a Fogarty International Center Women Global Health Scholar and a visiting professor at Yale University. Dr. Ertem is the recipient of large scale international research grants and the developer of the International Guide for Monitoring Child Development (GMCD). She is the author of two books including the WHO published Developmental Difficulties in Early Childhood and publications in prestigious medical journals.

Ashwini Marathe

INDIA

  • Developmental Pediatrician at Ummeed Child Development Center-a not for profit organization in Mumbai, India 
  • Clinical Experience in Pediatrics – 30 years
  • Hub team member and trainer for ECHO ADHD – an online interactive and case-based training program for pediatricians, on identification and management of ADHD in children, conducted by Ummeed CDC Mumbai and Sethu Center for Child Development and Family Guidance, Goa.
  • Trainer for International Guide for Monitoring Child Development (GMCD) tool
  • Speaker at various workshops, lectures for paediatricians, professionals, teachers, and parents on topics related to Developmental Behavioural Pediatrics
  • Publications in peer reviewed journals and presentations at International and National forums.

Miloš Sremčev

serbia

Miloš Sremčev is a pediatrician, child and adolescent psychotherapist and resident in child and adolescent psychiatry. He is engaged in scientific work and researches the early development of children living in substandard settlements.

Olaf kraus de Camargo

Canada

Dr. Olaf Kraus de Camargo is a developmental pediatrician, associate professor of Pediatrics and the co-director of the CanChild Centre for Childhood-onset Disability Research at McMaster University.

shanti Raman

australia

Shanti Raman, MBBS, FRACP, MAE, PhD Director- Department of Community Paediatrics, South Western Sydney Local Health District Senior Clinical Advisor-Child & Family Health, NSW Ministry of Health Conjoint Professor, University of New South Wales, School of Women’s & Children’s Health Shanti Raman is a Consultant Paediatrician, with sub-specialty training in Community Child Health, epidemiology and public health. She is the Director of Community Paediatrics – South Western Sydney, where she is responsible for clinical services in Child Development and Child Protection across the region, providing academic leadership and directing research and training. She has recently been seconded to the position of Senior Clinical Advisor-Child and Family Health, at NSW Ministry of Health, where her role is to support the improvement of quality, safety, appropriateness, and integration of child and family health services through the development of statewide healthcare policy. Her research and teaching interests include health of migrants and refugees, indigenous child health, child rights and child maltreatment, quality and safety in health, global maternal, newborn and child health. She is involved with policy development at State, national and international levels promoting a rights-based perspective to child health and population health. She is on the Board of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect (ISPCAN) and on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Social Pediatrics & Child Health (ISSOP). She is currently the Editor-in-Chief of BMJ Paediatrics Open.

Ezgi Özalp Akin

turkey

Ezgi Özalp Akın is an associate professor at Ankara University Developmental Pediatrics Division, Turkey and a member of International Developmental Pediatrics Association (IDPA) Secretarial Board. She works for the education of medical doctors and pediatricians in developmental pediatrics and using International Guide for Monitoring Child Development, and advocacy for children with developmental difficulties and their families. Her research interests are related to the use of International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health Framework to assess and support children with developmental difficulties and their families.

Selamenesh Tsige Legas

ethiopia

Dr. Selamenesh Tsige Legas is a passionate advocate for childhood disability and the first Ethiopian specialist in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. She established the first developmental pediatrics clinic at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Dr. Selamenesh is currently a Developmental Pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University. She is affiliated with several international organizations, including the Eastern Africa Academies of Childhood Disabilities (EAACD), International Alliance Academies of Childhood Disability (IAACD), Global Professional Educational Collaboration (GPEC), and the International Affairs Committee at the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine(AACPDM). Her research interests focus on knowledge translation in childhood disability within low-resource settings. Recently, she has been working on the adoption, translation, and clinical integration of developmental coaching tools for children in Ethiopia and on early childhood development (ECD) curriculum development through the Eastern Central and Southern Africa Pediatrics College (ECSAPACH). Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Selamenesh is the founder and president of Gojo Accommodation and Temporary Shelter for Patients in Need NGO. She is an alumna of the 2022/2023 University of Toronto Postgraduate Leadership Program, the 2020/2021 Mandela Washington Fellowship, and the 2019/2020 Ethiopian Woman of Excellence. She is honored to serve on the Secretarial Board of the International Developmental Pediatrics Association (IDPA).